Actor Dileep, an accused in the actor abduction and sexual assault case, on Monday, January 17, moved the Kerala High Court seeking an order prohibiting the publishing and broadcasting of matters related to the trial. Dileep claimed both the investigating and the prosecuting agencies have “abandoned the trial in a court”. He filed the petition against the state police chief, the investigating officer and a private television channel.
He said an "in camera trial" was mandated under 327 (2) of the The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for the offence charged against him and the printing and publishing of the proceedings were unlawful. "They (investigating and prosecuting agencies) have sponsored and resorted to media trials as the same has no accountability and can be easily sponsored especially in a period where fake news and forms of unethical journalism are prevalent and it is easy to choose a suitable media house and use their services to propagate falsehood about the trial of the case," the petition said.
The petition filed through advocate Philip T Varghese alleged there was a deliberate and concerted act of criminal contempt hindering the administration of justice by scandalising the court and prejudicing the trial by publishing the proceedings of the trial conducted.
Dileep also alleged that not only the private TV channel but other media — including print, digital and social media — are now printing and publishing matters which amount to criminal contempt.
The Kerala police Crime Branch had on January 9 filed a new First Information Report (FIR) against Dileep, days after incriminating audio clips concerning him surfaced. The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio clip of Dileep which was released by a TV channel recently in which the actor was allegedly heard conspiring to attack the officials.
The audio clips came out soon after a director, Balachandra Kumar, made some startling revelations against Dileep in the actress assault case through a TV channel.